Widespread worship of the Goddess Santoshi Ma is a relatively recent phenomena. It began as a local cult in Western India and has now spread throughout the subcontinent and abroad. Santoshi Ma is a benevolent and benign Goddess prayed to by her many devotees for happiness and good relationships in marriage, family and work. When her image is bejeweled and surrounded by flowers, as she is in this shrine, her Divine beauty is said to be so overwhelming that her devotees are overcome with rapture. Beneath her image here are tiny framed pictures of (left) the Goddess Durga, the conqueror of evil, and (right) Lakshmi, the Goddess of Abundance with Ganesha, the elephant-headed Remover of Obstacles.
Bhubaneshwar, Orissa
Archive Scan #: I26_090M